You might say Venezuelan born
photographer Leo Anato had a tough time coming out—of the dark room that is. You see, despite a life-long passion for film
(he still has the Canon A-1 his father loaned him as a child), Leo graduated
from the University of Florida with a degree in Finance and Marketing—reckoning
a suit and tie suited him better than a lens cap…
But his focus changed drastically in 2012
(he’d moved from San Francisco to Miami in 2011) when he met the love of his
life—Maricel Zambrano.
Maricel, a successful film producer,
encouraged Leo to take his art seriously. “Cha Cha pushed me towards my
destiny. She provided the spine to the book of my life,” Leo says with
unbridled gratitude.
Together, the married tandem started
their own production company; Wild House Pictures and Leo threw himself
aggressively into his passion but not on a public platform per se.
While his commercial career grew in leaps
and bounds his personal artistic endeavors seemed stuck in the “dark-room.”
“I was always capturing ‘off-camera’
moments on the myriad production sets we were on. And I chronicled our many
travels around the world, but I never shared—never showed my work to the
public.”
Last year Leo and Maricel opened Atelier
3 in Hollywood (1901 Harrison Street).
“Originally, we planned to use the space
as an office/showroom for Wild House. However the spirit of the spot begged
something more—and our coffee shop/gathering place was born.”
Born indeed—kicking and screaming you
might say. In short order AT3 (as it’s fondly referred) has quickly become
Hollywood’s hippest spot—with art exhibits and performances de rigueur.
“We’ve been exhibiting local artists for
some time now and Maricel finally said, ‘Why not you Leo?’”
That prompt; the nudge of a lover, friend
and personal protagonist has led Leo to the first exhibition of his own
creations.
On December 9th the unveiling
takes place at Atelier 3. You won’t want to miss this monumental moment of
personal expression. The moody, deeply engaging works of Leo Anato—which have
been brewing far longer than the espresso he serves up—will finally see the
light-of-day (and we can thank Maricel for that—Leo certainly does)…
